IPUMS Classroom Registration
IPUMS users can create classroom accounts. The accounts have three primary features:
- Instructors can share data extracts online with students.
- Students can register more easily than regular users.
- Instructors can see a list of who is registered and therefore able to receive IPUMS data.
Propose a class
The Instructor must fill out a class account request describing the class. The link to do so is available on the user registration and login page, after logging in. Upon approval, the instructor will receive a code that they distribute to their students, which they use for their own registration. For instructors, a new link will appear on the registration and login page to "view my classes."
Student registration
Student registration is similar to regular user registration. Students go to the registration page and click "apply for access". Students enter the the classroom code provided by the instructor in field called "Registration Group Code". When students click "Submit Code," 3 fields of the application form (institution, field of research, and research description) are pre-populated to facilitate quick approval by IPUMS staff.
If a prospective student is already a registered IPUMS user, they need only log in and click the link to "join a class", at which point they will be prompted to enter the classroom code.
Managing classes
Click the link on the registration page to "view my classes" and select your class. You can see who is registered and thus entitled to receive IPUMS data.
Instructors can share extracts with class members through the IPUMS web site. Any extract with data on the instructor's downloads page can be shared with students (older extracts may need to be regenerated first). The shared extracts will appear on a separate tab on the students' personal extract downloads pages. Extracts that are shared will not be deleted from our server during the life of the class, so there is no danger that the data may be altered.
Note: Students can make their own data extracts, like any other user. Thus, instructors are not limited only to sharing datasets that they construct. The extract process can be part of the learning experience.
Obligations
The data must be kept secure however it is distributed. Students are under the same constraints as any other user in this regard. They may not share the data with anyone who is not a registered user. Instructors should make certain that students understand the requirements regarding data security and sharing.
Instructors should remove anyone from the class roster who is not a student or who drops out from the class. Those persons will lose access until they register on their own account.
Other issues
- Registration will expire at the end of the class, which must be within one year of initiating it.
- Expired classes will be maintained indefinitely in the instructor's account, but they will disappear from student accounts.
- Students who wish to login after the class account expires must re-register and be approved as a regular user.